A Letter of Approval (LOA) must be submitted to the Ordination Council for candidates seeking ordination, and for ministers who are renewing their ordination. In both cases, the rules for and content of the LOA are the same.

LOAs may be submitted by any ordained Minister of Satan who is in any of the following positions in The Satanic Temple:

• Congregation Heads
• Campaign Directors
• Acting Congregation Heads (“Regents”)
• Regional Committee Members

Authorization for writing LOAs is limited to ministers in these positions because people in these positions have gone through independent evaluations (i.e. outside their own individual congregation or campaign) and are involved in roles that require them to have ongoing and active engagement with our community.

People who are in internally-defined positions within congregations and campaigns, such as “Group Leads” or “Internal Council”, are not eligible to write LOAs. You can find out more about the rationale behind why these groups and others are not eligible to write LOA here: Why do you require a “Letter of Approval” from an ordained member of leadership?

Keep in mind that being eligible to write an LOA for a candidate is not the same as being obligated to write an LOA. If you are being asked to write an LOA, please review the Approval Letter Guidelines for instructions on when to write an LOA and what to write. If you are a candidate asking a minister for an LOA, be considerate and remember that if a minister tells you they are not able to write your LOA, continuing to pressure or pester them could be grounds for immediate rejection from the ordination program.